Page 22 of Balancing Act
“Wilson’s, right?” Beth said distractedly.
She looked into Jamie’s eyes, pools of brown and amber swirling as they caught the autumn morning light. Her hands lingered on the edge of Beth’s car door. She wanted to reach up and brush her fingers against Jamie’s hands, to feel the touch of their skin against each other. It would be so easy to.
“You okay?” Jamie asked, her smile falling into genuine concern.
“Ask me something easier.” She laughed, glancing away. Jamie’s gaze, however, never left her. Waiting, not trying to fill the silence with platitudes or small talk. Finally, Beth sighed, her fingers gripping the steering wheel before falling to her lap. “It’s nothing. I’m just—” She stopped, shaking her head. “It’s stupid.”
“I doubt that. You know, the cool thing about us being friends now is that I’m here if you ever need to talk.”
Feeling the weight of Jamie’s patient stare, Beth hesitated. Her instinct was to brush it off, to offer some lighthearted quip and move on. But her question lingered, and she realized Jamie wasn’t going anywhere.
She shifted in her seat. “It’s nothing. I’m just—” Her fingers traced the curve of the steering wheel as if the words were buried somewhere in the grooves of the leather. “Lily doesn’t really call me ‘Mama’ anymore.” A weird sort of strangled laugh-sob escaped her, and she felt the heat rise in her cheeks. She looked back at Jamie, her brown eyes so full of understanding. “She calls both me and Sarah ‘Mom’ now, for the most part. I don’t know when it started, but I swear I blinked, and she’s all grown up.”
Jamie’s brows furrowed slightly—not in a way that felt pitying, more like she was absorbing Beth’s words. “That must be hard,” she said after a moment.
“It is sometimes.” Beth swallowed the lump rising in her throat. “I mean, I know it’s normal. I knew she wouldn’t call me‘Mama’ forever, and I shouldn’t—” She stopped herself, shaking her head. “I shouldn’t care, but here we are.” She forced a smile.
Jamie leaned closer, resting her arms on the edge of the car door. “I think it’s perfectly normal that you care.” Jamie’s voice was warm and unhurried, as if she wasn’t saying it to make Beth feel better but because she believed it. “She’ll always be your little girl, you know?”
Beth met Jamie’s brown eyes, and for a moment, she couldn’t help but wonder if this was what it felt like to be truly seen by someone else? Jamie had listened to her without trying to fix the situation. “Thanks,” she murmured, offering a small, tentative smile.
“Any time.” Jamie’s dimples appeared. “And for what it’s worth, she might not always say ‘Mama,’ but that’s who you are to her. It’s not a name, Beth—it’s a bond.” Their eyes stayed locked, lingering on each other. “If you need someone to talk to, I’m here. I’m a pretty good listener. You can always call or text me.” She flashed a smile before pushing herself away from the car.
Beth had thought about texting Jamie so many times. Just a quickHey, how’s it going?orWhat are you up to?But she hadn’t been able to bring herself to make that move. This new friendship—or whatever this was with them—equally confused and excited her. But if it meant Jamie could be in her life a little longer and in a more profound way than just as Lily’s coach, then she would take it.
“Oh, Beth, one more thing.” Jamie leaned back against the car, and she inhaled the sweet, familiar scent of eucalyptus. “I want to take Lily indoor rock climbing as a trust-building exercise for the two of us. I just need permission from you. I was thinking about taking her next Tuesday during training time. Would that be okay?”
“She’s never been before, but I don’t see why not. As long as you know what you’re doing. I trust you.”
Jamie stiffened for a moment as Beth’s words left her mouth, and Beth racked her brain for what she could have possibly said to elicit that reaction, but as quickly as it happened, any hint of hardness was gone, replaced by Jamie’s extremely cute, melt-your-heart dimpled smile.
“Don’t worry. I know what I’m doing.”
She really, really hoped Jamie did, because Beth had absolutely no clue what she was doing.
The week slipped by in a blur, each day marked by quick drop-offs at the gym and lingering conversations with Jamie in the parking lot. And suddenly, it was Friday. Her conversation with Jamie had lasted nearly thirty minutes this morning before an annoyed Lily poked her head out of the gym and Jamie flashed an apologetic smile before rushing off.
Beth had reluctantly headed home with the intention to get some work done. An intention that quickly went out the window when she tried to sit down and focus.
She should have been preparing for her meeting with Lane Walker, but instead, Beth sat surrounded by crumpled-up paper—ideas she had abandoned. On the wall behind her, she had taped a sheet of canvas only to stand in front of it for an hour without making a single move. Her creativity was so far away today, as if the wave she’d been riding all year had crashed, leaving her stranded.
She needed to find something to inspire her, to pull her out of this rut.
The sound of an incoming video call blared through her laptop speakers, and she prepared herself to take Sean’s call.
“Morning!” she chirped.
“Beth, it’s 2 p.m.”
She looked at the clock on the wall and realized she had spent the last several hours doing absolutely nothing.
“So it is.” Frustration crept into her voice more than was probably necessary.
“Hmmm. One of those days?” Sean asked. On-screen, Beth could see him lean back in his office chair and cross his arms. She didn’t respond.
“Let me guess, darling—you’ve spent all day trying to work, but you haven’t been able to come up with anything inspired?”Damn, he is good.Sean’s ability to read her like an open book was both unparalleled and unnerving.
“Am I that predictable?” she asked.